Now that I am almost finished with my fall semester as a junior, I wanted to reflect on my academic journey thus far. As many other students can relate, we all experience the highs and lows of college life. I am here to share my experience on how I discovered my major and the steps I took to reach it. I hope my story is helpful to those still figuring out what they want to study!
When I applied to colleges, I wasn’t sure about what I wanted to study. I knew I was more interested in the liberal arts realm because math and science are my weaker subjects. I thought I wanted to study psychology because I took a class my senior year of high school and really enjoyed it. Therefore, I played it safe and decided to apply to schools as “undecided” so that I could allow myself to explore instead of choosing a random major and switching.
Once I got accepted into UMass, I was originally declared under the College of Social & Behavioral Sciences (SBS) under the exploratory track. This meant that I was undecided about this college. I remember that I was not allowed to apply to UMass as generally undecided, and therefore had to choose a college to be undecided in.
In my first semester, I took a variety of Gen-Ed courses to explore different subjects. I took an Intro to Psychology course that I enjoyed. However, I did not like the science aspects that came with Psychology and I struggled with a section of the course that covered parts of the brain and their functions.
When I was figuring out my schedule for my second semester as a freshman, I consulted with my advisor. She was very helpful! I was not used to having autonomy when picking classes, so I decided to try one Intro to Communications class (COMM 121) that I really enjoyed. This class covered media and culture within society and the professor was very knowledgeable and taught it well. I was intrigued by the communication department, so I did some research and found a list of all the communication courses that UMass offers. I was fascinated by all of the titles of the classes I could take, and I knew that this was an area of study I could see myself exploring more.
In order for me to take more intro comm courses, I needed to declare the major. In April 2022, I became a communications major and I enrolled in more classes for my sophomore year. Eventually, I felt established knowing I was continuing with the comm major, but wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted to specifically do with this degree. So, I decided to take an Intro to Public Relations course as a first-semester sophomore. I really found this subject interesting because communications and public relations are very intertwined. In November 2022, I decided to make an advising appointment with a journalism advisor and discuss the possibility of committing to the public relations concentration. Once I was accepted, I was able to take more PR classes than just the intro one, and I have really enjoyed them so far.
I am now a communications and journalism double major on the public relations track here at UMass, and I am really grateful to have found my area of interest. I have made friends within my classes and I am now a member of the UMass Amherst Chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA)! I also decided to join the business minor at the Isenberg School of Management so that I can gain some knowledge about business in this world. It never hurts to know about the basic understanding of business, regardless of what major you are!
I have come to realize that I came to UMass with many unknowns, but I have slowly found my own path through doing research and trying out new areas. If there is any piece of advice to gather from my story, it is that you must explore in order to find what interests you! Get out of your comfort zone and take different classes, and join clubs to find out what you like and don’t like! I hope you all enjoyed reading about my academic journey and have found my pieces of advice helpful!
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